Bengals News (1/11): High cost of success

Zac Taylor Talks Bringing Historic Bengals Into Playoff Paycor With Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson
On Sunday night in the Wild Card Game against the Ravens (8:15-Cincinnati's Channel 5), Zac Taylor becomes the first coach in Bengals history to coach back-to-back opening round home playoff games. He began the week talking to Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson about the electricity that's going to wire Paycor Stadium and the confidence his team has finding the big play.

How To Be A Part of the Bengals Light Show
Prior to player introductions and before the halftime show with Bootsy Collins, instructions will be displayed on the Paycor Stadium big screens. Watch the video below for full instructions – hold up your phone when prompted and you'll be a part of the show!

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (knee) faces an uphill battle to play vs. Bengals
"Not looking good for Lamar Jackson," Rapoport said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "Which is a bit of a surprise if you look back. Dec. 4 was the last time he played, battling a PCL sprain. There were so many people involved who thought if Lamar is not going to play in the regular season, he will surely be ready in the playoffs. However, from my understanding this is something sources have said over the course of the past 24 hours is that Lamar Jackson faces an uphill battle to be able to get out on the field in the playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ravens-Bengals AFC wild-card odds, spread, lines and best bet
The Bengals have won 12 of their last 14 games with an amazing 12-1-1 ATS (92.2%) record over that span. The Bengals have been a tremendously lucrative team to invest in dating back to last postseason, posting an amazing 15-4-1 ATS (78.9%) record over their last 20 games.

Report: Cincinnati Bengals-Baltimore Ravens Most Expensive NFL Wild Card Ticket
According to TicketIQ, Bengals-Ravens is the most expensive average ticket price on the secondary market ($237). The next closest game is Cowboys-Buccaneers ($231), and Jaguars-Chargers ($204). All other games are below $200 as of this writing.

When the Bengals win, business wins: 'One game is kind of like a week of sales'
“So, to have that extra boost of, you know, tens of thousands of people down here flooding your bars and restaurants... It just really means a world of difference in how we get over that hump in the winter,” Shwegmann said.

Bengals regular season defensive grades: Who was elite, average and replaceable in 2022?
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Bengals’ season isn’t over. They face the Ravens on Sunday in an AFC wild card game. But before they do that, let’s take a look at how the team performed in the regular season.

Around the league

NFL Offensive Player Rankings after the 2022 regular season; three playoff offenses with serious concerns
All of this shuffling at the game's most important position certainly hasn't help Baltimore's attack. The Ravens have averaged the fewest points per game (12.5) in December and January of any team to make the playoffs since the 1997 Buccaneers (12.3 ppg). Baltimore just doesn't have enough juice in the pass game. The Ravens boast the NFL's second-ranked rushing offense, but a lack of bona fide weapons beyond tight end Mark Andrews limits the unit tremendously.

NFL Power Rankings: 49ers, Bills, Bengals remain on top heading into Super Wild Card Weekend
There will be no coin flip. The Bengals capped an emotional week with a 27-16 win over the Ravens that ensured Sunday night's playoff grudge match against Baltimore will take place at Paycor Stadium. Zac Taylor's battle-tested squad will enter the postseason on an eight-game winning streak and in excellent position to return to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. Much of that is tied, of course, to Joe Burrow, the superstar quarterback who offered a postgame reminder of his bottomless levels of charisma when asked about Cincinnati's championship window. "The window's my whole career," Burrow replied. "And everybody we have in that locker room, all the coaches we have, things are gonna change year to year, but our window is always open." You gonna bet against that guy?

Bills kick returner Nyheim Hines leads Players of the Week
As the Bills took the field against the New England Patriots on Sunday for the first time since Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hines took the very first play all the way to the end zone, inducing goosebumps as he dramatically raced 96 yards on the opening kickoff.

Ranking each team's primary starting running back for the 2022 NFL season
Now that the 2022 NFL regular season is behind us, I have taken the time to rank each team's primary starting running back for the 2022 season. There's a lot to unpack, so let's not waste any time.